Comparative study of the impact of dietary supplementation with different types of CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODNs) on enhancing intestinal microbiota diversity, antioxidant capacity, and immune-related gene expression profiles in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

The CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODNs) reportedly possess the capacity to strengthen immunity in mammals. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of dietary supplementation with 17 types of CpG ODNs on intestinal microbiota diversity, antioxidant capacity, and immune-related gene expression profiles of the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Diets including 50 mg kg-1 CpG ODNs wrapped in egg whites were prepared and divided into 17 different groups, with 2 control groups (normal feed and feed with egg whites). These CpG ODNs supplemented diets and the control diets were fed to L. vannamei (5.15 ± 0.54 g) three times daily at 5%-8% shrimp body weight for three weeks. The results of consecutive detection of intestinal microbiota by 16S rDNA sequencing indicated that 11 of the 17 types of CpG ODNs significantly enhanced intestinal microbiota diversity, increased the populations of several probiotic bacteria, and activated possible mechanisms relevant to diseases. The immune-related genes expression and antioxidant capacity in hepatopancreas further demonstrated that the 11 types of CpG ODNs effectively improved the innate immunity of shrimp. Additionally, histology results showed that the CpG ODNs in the experiment did not damage the tissue structure of hepatopancreas. The results suggest that CpG ODNs could be used as a trace supplement to improve the intestinal health and immunity of shrimp

A Dopa Decarboxylase Modulating the Immune Response of Scallop Chlamys farreri

BACKGROUND: Dopa decarboxylase (DDC) is a pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the decarboxylation of L-Dopa to dopamine, and involved in complex neuroendocrine-immune regulatory network. The function for DDC in the immunomodulation remains unclear in invertebrate. METHODOLOGY: The full-length cDNA encoding DDC (designated CfDDC) was cloned from mollusc scallop Chlamys farreri. It contained an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 560 amino acids. The CfDDC mRNA transcripts could be detected in all the tested tissues, including the immune tissues haemocytes and hepatopancreas. After scallops were treated with LPS stimulation, the mRNA expression level of CfDDC in haemocytes increased significantly (5.5-fold, P<0.05) at 3 h and reached the peak at 12 h (9.8-fold, P<0.05), and then recovered to the baseline level. The recombinant protein of CfDDC (rCfDDC) was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3)-Transetta, and 1 mg rCfDDC could catalyze the production of 1.651±0.22 ng dopamine within 1 h in vitro. When the haemocytes were incubated with rCfDDC-coated agarose beads, the haemocyte encapsulation to the beads was increased significantly from 70% at 6 h to 93% at 24 h in vitro in comparison with that in the control (23% at 6 h to 25% at 24 h), and the increased haemocyte encapsulation was repressed by the addition of rCfDDC antibody (which is acquired via immunization 6-week old rats with rCfDDC). After the injection of DDC inhibitor methyldopa, the ROS level in haemocytes of scallops was decreased significantly to 0.41-fold (P<0.05) of blank group at 12 h and 0.47-fold (P<0.05) at 24 h, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results collectively suggested that CfDDC, as a homologue of DDC in scallop, modulated the immune responses such as haemocytes encapsulation as well as the ROS level through its catalytic activity, functioning as an indispensable immunomodulating enzyme in the neuroendocrine-immune regulatory network of mollusc

The molecular characterization of a cyclophilin A from Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis and the antifungal activity of its recombinant protein

Background: Cyclophilin A (CypA), a receptor for the immunosuppressive agent cyclosporin A (CsA), is a cis-trans peptidyl-prolyl isomerase (PPIase) which accelerates the cis-trans isomerization of prolyl-peptide bonds and interacts with a variety of proteins to regulate their activities. Results: The full-length cDNA of crab Eriocheir sinensis CypA (EsCypA) was cloned by EST and RACE technique. The complete sequence of EsCypA cDNA contained a 5\u2019 untranslated region (UTR) of 50 bp, a 3\u2019 UTR of 233 bp with a polyA tail, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 495 bp encoding a polypeptide of 164 amino acids with the predicted molecular weight of 17.36 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of EsCypA contained two highly conserved signature sequences of peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase and a pro-isomerase domain. The mRNA transcripts of EsCypA were detectable in all the examined tissues, including haemocytes, gill, hepatopancreas, gonad, muscle and heart, with higher expression level in hepatopancreas and gonad. No significant difference in the relative mRNA expression level of EsCypA was observed during the whole course of bacteria challenge, whereas it was up-regulated during fungi challenge. The purified recombinant protein rEsCypA exhibited a significant PPIase activity and an antifungal activity. Conclusions: All these results indicated that it was a typical CypA member and potentially involved in the innate immune responses of crab

A predictive model for early death in elderly colorectal cancer patients: a population-based study

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine what variables contribute to the early death of elderly colorectal cancer patients (ECRC) and to generate predictive nomograms for this population.MethodsThis retrospective cohort analysis included elderly individuals (≥75 years old) diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) from 2010-2015 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result databases (SEER) databases. The external validation was conducted using a sample of the Chinese population obtained from the China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University. Logistic regression analyses were used to ascertain variables associated with early death and to develop nomograms. The nomograms were internally and externally validated with the help of the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA).ResultsThe SEER cohort consisted of 28,111 individuals, while the Chinese cohort contained 315 cases. Logistic regression analyses shown that race, marital status, tumor size, Grade, T stage, N stage, M stage, brain metastasis, liver metastasis, bone metastasis, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were independent prognostic factors for all-cause and cancer-specific early death in ECRC patients; The variable of sex was only related to an increased risk of all-cause early death, whereas the factor of insurance status was solely associated with an increased risk of cancer-specific early death. Subsequently, two nomograms were devised to estimate the likelihood of all-cause and cancer-specific early death among individuals with ECRC. The nomograms exhibited robust predictive accuracy for predicting early death of ECRC patients, as evidenced by both internal and external validation.ConclusionWe developed two easy-to-use nomograms to predicting the likelihood of early death in ECRC patients, which would contribute significantly to the improvement of clinical decision-making and the formulation of personalized treatment approaches for this particular population

Identification and characterization of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri during gonadal development

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) controls synthesis of sex steroid hormones through hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis in vertebrates. But in mollusks, research on neuroendocrine control of gonadal function, such as the function of GnRH during gonadal development is limited. In this study, we investigated the morphology and structure of the nerve ganglia of Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri by physiological and histological observations. We also cloned the ORF and studied the expression patterns of GnRH in the scallop. Tissue expression analysis showed that GnRH was highly expressed in parietovisceral ganglion (PVG). The in situ hybridization result further confirmed that GnRH mRNA only distributed in some good-sized neurons in the posterior lobe (PL) and some pint-sized neurons in the lateral lobe (LL). In addition, by examining the expression of GnRH during gonadal development in ganglia, we found GnRH displayed higher expression in the female scallops, and showed significant high expression at the growing stage of female scallops in PVG. This study would contribute to gaining insight into the mechanism underlying reproduction regulation by GnRH in the scallop and help to provide a better understanding of reproductive neuroendocrine in mollusks

Mg-Doped high voltage LiCoO2 for high performance lithium-ion batteries

Further increasing the voltage is the most efficient means of acquisition to obtain lithium cobalt oxide with high specific capacity, but the irreversible phase transition of LiCoO2 at high voltage leads to poor electrochemical performance. In this paper, a 4.6V high voltage stable lithium cobalt oxide cathode material was achieved by simple high temperature solid-phase synthesis method doped with different contents of Mg elements. Under the condition of Mg content of 0.02, the specific capacity of discharge is 222.7 mAh/g at 0.5C, and the capacity retention rate is 93% after 50 cycles of 1C, showing good electrochemical performance

Mg-Doped high voltage LiCoO2 for high performance lithium-ion batteries

Further increasing the voltage is the most efficient means of acquisition to obtain lithium cobalt oxide with high specific capacity, but the irreversible phase transition of LiCoO2 at high voltage leads to poor electrochemical performance. In this paper, a 4.6V high voltage stable lithium cobalt oxide cathode material was achieved by simple high temperature solid-phase synthesis method doped with different contents of Mg elements. Under the condition of Mg content of 0.02, the specific capacity of discharge is 222.7 mAh/g at 0.5C, and the capacity retention rate is 93% after 50 cycles of 1C, showing good electrochemical performance

Spatial and Temporal Variations in Spring Dust Concentrations from 2000 to 2020 in China: Simulations with WRF-Chem

Dust emitted from arid and semi-arid areas of China is a main contributor to the global atmospheric aerosols. However, the long-term spatial and temporal variations in dust concentrations in China is still unknown. Here, we simulated the spatial and temporal variations in spring dust concentrations in China from 2000 to 2020 using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). The results showed that the configured WRF-Chem model in this study reproduced the spatial patterns and temporal variations of dust aerosols. The annual mean spring dust concentration at the country level was 26.95 g kg−1-dry air and showed a slightly increasing trend in China during 2000–2020. There were clear spatial differences and inter-annual variations in dust concentrations. The dust concentration generally decreased from the dust source regions of the northwest to the southeast regions of China. Obvious increasing and decreasing trends in spring dust concentrations were identified in the regions of northern Xinjiang and Gansu and in the regions of southern Xinjiang and western Inner Mongolia, respectively. In May, the dust concentration showed an increasing trend in most regions of northwestern China. This provided the basic information for insight into the long-term spatial and temporal variations in spring dust concentrations in China